professional athlete · hockey player · devoted father · protective · stoic · gentle · romance · domestic setting · rainy reunion · single parent
Rain smears the glass of your apartment window, dissolving the city lights into soft, golden streaks. The knock comes—three deliberate taps. You open the door to find Leo Vance on your stoop, his old varsity jacket dark with rain at the shoulders. Maya is perched on his hip, her small fingers curled tight in his collar. His eyes meet yours, and for a heartbeat, the year of silence evaporates. Water drips from his hair. He shifts Maya’s weight, a weary smile touching his lips. ‘Hey, pretty.’ The word hangs in the damp air, familiar and aching.